welfare state

American  

noun

• welfare states
  plural

1. a state in which the welfare of the people in such matters as social security, health and education, housing, and working conditions is the responsibility of the government.

---

welfare state British  

noun

1. a system in which the government undertakes the chief responsibility for providing for the social and economic security of its population, usually through unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, and other social-security measures

2. a social system characterized by such policies

---

welfare state ¹ Cultural  

1. An economic system that combines features of capitalism and socialism by retaining private ownership while the government enacts broad programs of social welfare, such as pensions and public housing.

---

welfare state ² Cultural  

1. A state or government that promotes public welfare through programs of public health, pensions, unemployment compensation, public housing, and the like. The expression welfare state is often used by those hostile to government intervention in these areas.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• welfare states
  plural

Etymology

Origin of welfare state

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

welfare state

No sooner had he proposed a dramatic expansion in the welfare state than government bond yields surged to their highest level since 1998.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

He ended decades of political dominance by dynastic parties and envisioned a national welfare state modelled on the Islamic golden age of the seventh to 14th centuries, a flourishing period in the Muslim world.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

"We're committed to moving from a welfare state to a working state, giving people in Norfolk and beyond the support they need to move out of poverty and into work," they added.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

There’s no moral bar on European electorates giving the welfare state priority over economic growth, although low growth eventually imposes a fiscal constraint on welfare.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

By this argument, belief in demonic magic ought not to have declined until there was a general improvement in living standards, and perhaps not until the development of the welfare state.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• social democracy